WWALS Watershed Coalition advocates for conservation and stewardship of the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Little, and Suwannee River watersheds in south Georgia and north Florida through education, awareness, environmental monitoring, and citizen activities.

Tag Archives: watershed

Join us for a Full Moon paddle and star gazing at Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge. This is a leisurely paddle around the refuge that lies in the Grand Bay–Banks Lake ecosystem.
This will also be nine days before the Fall Equinox, so day and night
will be almost as equal as they ever get.

Bring: the usual personal flotation device, boat paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit.
Also trash pickers and trash bags: every WWALS outing is also a cleanup.
And a light!
It’s going to be dark.

Free: This outing is free to WWALS members, and $10 (ten dollars) for non-members.
We recommend you support the work of WWALS by
becoming a WWALS member today!

Volunteers for testing, you can get trained at this
chemical and Bacteriological water testing training for Georgia Adopt-A-Stream standards by our local trainers.
Already-trained trainers, here’s your chance to get a refresher to extend your certification for another year.

Yes, we can test in Florida and put the results in the Georgia Adopt-A-Stream database.
For results to be actionable in Florida does require additional Florida training.

Clearcutting of upland forests,
due process failures at the public hearing,
spot zoning, violations of local ordinances,
and failure to adhere to the Brooks County’s own Comprehensive Plan
are among the grounds on which landowners are going to sue to overturn
the Commission’s unanimous decision
at the beginning of August to approve a Special Exception for NextEra Energy
of Juno Beach, Florida, to build a 150 megawatt solar farm on wooded wetlands.

Here is the press release from their attorney, Jonathan Perry Waters of Macon, Georgia (see also
PDF).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 29, 2019

LANDOWNERS CHALLENGE SOLAR EXCEPTION

Quitman, Georgia— August 29, 2019 — On Monday of this
week, Brooks County Superior Court Judge Richard Cowart signed a
Sanction for a Writ of Certiorari allowing a group of landowners in
Brooks County to file a petition in the Superior Court of the County
challenging the granting of a Special Exception Zoning permit by the
Brooks County Board of Commissioners to Quitman II Solar, LLC to
construct a 1,700 acre solar site in the an Agricultural Zoned area
of the County. Quitman II Solar, LLC, is a wholly owned subsidiary
of NextEra Energy, of Juno Beach, Florida.

Excellent comments from Okefenokee Swamp Park,
requesting at least three public hearings by the Army Corps,
plus independent research,
in addition to a full Environmental Impact Statement.
When I received them from Dr. Clark last night,
he asked me to circulate them widely; see also PDF.

Update 2019-08-29:
All Amtrak trains and Greyhound buses from Virginia to coastal Georgia cancelled for Sunday and Saturday, and flights even if not canceled are absurdly expensive at this late date, so I’m not leaving for Virginia today; I’ll be staying here for the duration. And these cancellations indicate Amtrak and Greyhound at least are considering Dorian something to worry about.

Hurricane Dorian is expected to be category 4 (130-156 mph winds) when it lands Monday somewhere on the east coast of Florida,
and we could see tropical storm winds (39-73 mph) in Cedar Key Saturday and in Valdosta Sunday.

…The mining company Twin Pines Minerals, LLC [(TPM)], said it plans to employ 150 people, but [Georgia State Representative John] Corbett acknowledged most of the employees will not come from Charlton County.

“Suwannee Riverkeeper is opposed to continued promiscuous issuance of permits to withdraw water from the Floridan Aquifer, which is already overtaxed and sinking.
The Suwannee River Water Management District not only should reject Nestle’s application to withdraw water from the Santa Fe River at Ginnie Springs; it should also revisit Nestle’s permit to withdraw water from the Withlacoochee River at Madison Blue Spring.”

Photo: John S. Quarterman for WWALS. Note “BLUE SPRING, MADISON, COUNTY FL”
and “NESTLE WATERS NORTH AMERICA INC., STAMFORD, CT 06902”.
Why should a Swiss company with North American headquarters in Connecticut
get to take our water for free and pollute our waterways with its plastic bottles?